Primary Races to Watch Today

In addition to Sen. Lincoln Chafee’s fascinating battle to keep his job (“If you want to see just how large Republicans can build their Big Tent, or alternately, how tight they can hold their noses, look at the Senate primary race in Rhode Island today.”), here are some primary races to watch today (AP):

The New York Democratic primary for attorney general, with former federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo – son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo – against Mark Green, the former New York City Public Advocate.

In New York’s gubernatorial primary, Eliot Spitzer is set to pulverize Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi; Sen. Hillary Clinton likewise will crush anti-Iraq war candidate Jonathan Tasini in the New York Democratic Senate primary. (If she can hold Tasini to single digits Clinton will likely claim to have neutralized the anti-war opposition to her larger political ambitions.)

The Maryland Democratic Senate primary, where Rep. Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and one-time head of the NAACP, are among 18 contenders for an open seat. The winner will face Michael Steele, who, if he wins in the fall, would be the Senate’s only black Republican.

The Democratic primary for a House seat in Minnesota in an open, reliably Democratic district which includes Minneapolis. Four candidates are running, including state legislator Keith Ellison, who won his party’s backing. If he won, Ellison would be the first Muslim member of Congress.